As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Tuesday, 16 February 2016

Exhibition offers rare look at Hawaii’s native forest bird

Most Oahu
visitors don’t get a chance to see native Hawaiian forest birds. They’re tough
to spot on much of the island, and sightings in bustling, urban Waikiki are extraordinarily rare.

Starting next month, however, travelers headed to the Aloha State’s most
popular tourism island can check out “Lele O Na Manu: Hawaiian Forest Birds,” a
new exhibition at Honolulu’s Bishop Museum offering a comprehensive look at
Hawaii’s remarkable native avian species.

“The goal of this exhibit is to educate people about the tremendous cultural
and natural resource of these unique creatures,” said Blair Collis, president
and CEO of the BishopMuseum,
“and to instill a call to action to help save the remaining species before they
are lost forever.”

Before the first Polynesians arrived in Hawaii, traveling
onboard ocean voyaging canoes more than 1,000 years ago, the islands were home
to over 110 species of birds found nowhere else on the planet, according to
museum officials. Today, biologists believe the AlohaState
is home for just 48 native avian species.